Kings 5, Islanders 2 (EN): The west coast roadtrip opens with a whimper

The good news: JG Pageau is back!

The bad news: The Islanders dropped their second straight game, and looked sluggish again tonight, much like the game against the Caps on Saturday. It wasn’t one of Ilya Sorokin’s finest games, but he could hardly be blamed for it, really, given how the skaters were tonight.

The Islanders still hold the second wild card slot, but it sure would be nice to pick up 4 points in the next two games of this road trip.

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First Period

Really the only event of note was that Pierre Engvall’s goal streak continued - and he really got to shoot this one in!

That gave the Islanders the lead, which they’d hold for the first period.

Second Period

Blake Lizotte tied the game quickly into the second, and after a quick look to see if he had tipped the puck in with a high stick, the goal stayed on the board.

A few minutes later, the Kings picked up a power play when Alex Romanov and Matt Martin were sent to the box (Romanov for roughing, along with LA’s Rasmus Kupari, and Martin for unsportsmanlike conduct). Just 30 seconds into that, Zach Parise and Gabriel Vilardi combined, and Parise caught him with his knee. Fortunately, Vilardi seemed to be alright, but Parise went to the box for a two minute kneeing minor.

On the now 5 on 3, Drew Doughty made it 2-1, and then Alex Iafallo followed up and made it 3-1 after a Pageau clearing attempt hit the linesman.

A few minutes after the power play, Trevor Moore scored, giving the Kings a 4-1 lead, and just about putting the game out of reach.

But then! The Islanders got on the power play when Quinton Byfield was called for interference, and just two seconds after it expired, Pageau tipped a Sebastian Aho shot to make it 4-2, giving the Islanders a fighting chance in the third.

Third Period

Just around four minutes into the period, Vladislav Gavrikov was called for hooking, sending the Isles to another PP. However, the Kings were able to kill that one, and generally keep the Islanders contained even as they pushed for two more goals.

Towards the end of the game, Byfield was called for sending the puck over the glass, and the Islanders took to the man advantage again, eventually making it a 6 on 4 after pulling Sorokin for an extra skater. But it wasn’t meant to be, and after the penalty was killed, Byfield put the puck in the empty net to make it 5-2 LA.

Up Next

Next, the Islanders head over to Anaheim to play the Ducks, in a game that technically takes place tonight, 10pm on March 15. The Ducks are clearly in tank mode, and so it’ll be important to rebound from two straight losses to pick up two very important points.